| back to Activities Review | back to Branch Calendar |
The grove is located in rolling country on slightly higher ground and inland, distantly overlooking the inner harbour north of Tauranga.
The McCabes have processed their own olive oil for two seasons. We looked forward to seeing some samples. Oil from the second season was not available yet.
Of their 75 acres, much is still grazed. About...
Picking time conflicts with the kiwifruit season labour demand. It is labour intensive as is pruning, hence extensive mechanisation is anticipated. But tree shaker harvesters are unlikely to be used locally, due to...
... varieties are being tried, primarily ...
Bruce explained that for growing olives, there are two main issues here: wind, and peacock spot. For wind...
The McCabes repeatedly emphasised pruning...
Trees showing susceptibility to wind throw or disease are now ripped out rather than persevering with excessive copper spraying. They are replaced with...
Moving through the grove, we saw how different colours and leaf shapes helped identify varieties. We saw several small trees which were younger replacements for trees destroyed by wind.
In the upper rows of trees sourced locally supposedly as Ascalano - aren't. Probably Frantoio, they displayed good stability in wind.
We looked at...
Flowers form on...
Pruning while predicting the eventual ...
Winter sees the heavy pruning. A summer pruning after fruit set (November) is to...
The McCabes realise that contrary to advice from other areas, they should have begun pruning when the trees were younger. This would have avoided...
For olive growing in this area, we were warned to overlook this at our peril!
Allied to the Peacock Spot problem and to ...
...deficiency is a major problem and not confined to olives...
... This also applies to Avocados.
Kathleen had found ...
Bruce mixes ... following extensive experimenting.
Our sandy loam soils leach ... quickly with 1.4 metres of rainfall, so ... application seems essential.
Used ...
Choice of variety is very important! Bay of Plenty ...
Some of the most susceptible varieties were ...
Winter ... very important!
On the top of the brow we examined a row of Koroneiki planted closer together as ...
A row of Picholine distinguished the variety as a ...
On a lower slope we saw ...
During picking, the different varieties are not rigorously separated. Oils are usually a blend aiming for a complexity of flavours, although ...
Planting a mixture of varieties in the grove ensures pollination (by wind; no shortfall in this area!)
In Italy some trees are ...
... years 4-5 will hopefully confirm this.
We saw a tree broken off by wind (contributing earlier stem damage was visible) was coppicing from the stump; a strong sprout would be chosen to re-establish the tree on the substantial root system faster than planting a new one.
Grafting across species was no problem... All later plants here are from ... In the early days of NZ olives (10+ years ago) there was a lot of trouble from mis-naming, especially NZ sourced trees...
... Very disease resistant, they could suit organic growers, being easy-care.
Poisoned wheat was marginally successful. Bruce suggested ...
...
Kathleen told how their Burmese cat works the grove... (approximately one aggressive Burmese cat per acre?). Italians are said to ...
Elsewhere, ...
Bruce and Kathleen are often invited to inspect other olive plantings and spoke of interesting experiences - access to all olive fruit from Tauranga council plantings had been an eye-opener for the almost complete absence of ...
To identify unknown species is easiest if the knowledgeable persons are invited (come around for a drink?) when fruit shape is visible on trees.
... was mentioned as a good big table olive crop provided Peacock Spot was adequately controlled. Its leaf was the source of an anti-viral extract.
At their pressing shed, we inspected a very compact processing plant...
In Marlborough 20% oil is considered good recovery; McCabes first pressing recorded ... makes separation of oil difficult.
Marketing tends to be avoided by many tree croppers but Bruce and Kathleen seem to have tackled that essential aspect with aplomb, as these publicity displays reveal.
Bruce spoke of the requirements for extra virgin oil, including less than 1% acidity ... Also, a peroxide value of less than 20 was ... They took their oil to ...
Techniques for very good quality include planned ... While higher temperatures allow for faster oil output... Bruce reminded us that pure and virgin olive oils are inferior to the extra-virgin classification, and that most supermarket extra-virgin oil is not! (or possibly was some years ago) and is often rancid and unusable for food flavouring.
We sampled some of their 2002 oil, which Bruce said started out with a strong peppery flavour, strong herbal note, and nutty aftertaste - now matured, it ...
It was inspiring to encounter on a single property, all the facilities to produce a finished product of great merit. To have it demonstrated in such detail was a measure of the dedication of this team, towards the achievement of excellence in their chosen tree crop.
Editor - Les Gruebner
Photos - Gail Newcomb and Les Gruebner
|
...Interested in knowing more? So are we! Join us... H O W T O J O I N a n y N Z T C A B r a n c h . . . |
| back to Activities Review | back to Branch Calendar | Top |
http://www.treecrops.org.nz/bracts/bract03/bay03/mccabe.html
Created: 2003 Jun 29 - Updated: 2008 July 11